The War of the Ancients: Chronicle of a Battle
by Josiah Jones
Summary: Pitting ten heroes in a battle of good versus evil in the classical Dota 2 format. 10 heroes, 3 lanes, 1 victor. this is pretty serious stuff. If you guys want to leave some feedback I'd appreciate it. Anything wrong with my stuff? slam it. You like it? great! tell me why.
1. The Battle Begins

"Rattletrap!" shouted the Clockwork Goblin as he appeared in the radiant fountain. All around him, his erstwhile allies were arriving too. The Radiant had called, and five of it's champions had answered. The armoured keen looked around. A large, rotund creature beside him swigged from its barrel, splashing some heady drink down it's front. Mangix the Brewmaster.

"_A fun guy to be around!_" Rattletrap grinned inside his helmet.

On his other side, a floating ball of pure light moved to the panda. Io, the Guardian Wisp. Another good hero to have. Rattletrap flexed his hook arm, this was going to be a good one. Natures Prophet stroked his beard as he looked at the shopkeeper's wares, already deciding his future purchases. And finally, Rattletrap noted with interest, the final hero arrived. A relative newcomer, yet already proven to be a formidable fighter, Xin the Ember Spirit.

"Welcome friends" Natures Prophet spoke, his tones rich and gravelly. "We must decide how we shall deal with the Dire foe."

"I think it apparent that I shall take the lane in the middle of the battlefield." Ember Spirit spoke, at once confidant and wise.

Clockwerk spoke up. "Hey Prophet! We all know where you wanna go. I'll offlane."

Furion nodded his thanks.

"I guess that leaves the Wisp and I as drinking partners eh!" The jolly Brewmaster guffawed.

The Wisp said nothing, but made a tinkling humming noise.

"See you around fella's!" Clockwerk waved to his comrades as he made his way to the edge of the Radiant camp. All around him, the soldiers of the Radiant were stirring, being slowly animated by the deity that resided in the ancient monolith situated in the centre of the stronghold. The warriors were spirits, created by the Radiant from natural elements. When their bodies were destroyed, their spirits simply returned to the Ancient, ready to be used in the crafting of more soldiers.

Clockwerk followed the path to the pathway jocularly referred to as the "suicide lane" by the Radiant heroes. The Towers he passed floated gently on their pedestals, seemingly nothing more than beautiful constructs. Rattletrap had seen his fair share of heroes killed from underestimating a Tower. The "creeps" as they were called, followed behind him, mindless in their intent to destroy the Dire. As soon as they spotted the Dire troglodytes, the Radiant warriors threw themselves forward to battle. Clockwerk hung back a bit, waiting to see his foes before heading into danger.

"Come on you ugly nightmares! Show yourselves" He called tauntingly.

A high-pitched cackle answered his insult.

"Nightmares are exactly what I am, little Keen." from behind the creeps appeared a twisted, nightmarish creature. It had no eyes to speak of, it twitched grotesquely and floated along, it's cloven hooves not touching the ground. The Bane Elemental. Following the monster towards the clump of struggling soldiers, a hulking figure moved. Ostarion, the Wraith King.

Clockwerk cursed, it was said the unholy king had grown even stronger since his transformation from bone to spirit.

Squaring his shoulders, the armoured Keen cautiously began his deadly dance with the fiends. Kill a creep, move to safety, deny a creep, move to safety, toss out his cogs to push them away. Avoid death. Rinse and repeat.

* * *

Mangix happily stood just behind his allied soldiers. Whenever a Dire creep seemed on the verge of death, a swift strike from the panda's flail would finish it off. The Wisp moved constantly, darting forward to send a ball of light towards the two Dire heroes and retreating. Luckily, the Dire had fielded two melee warriors. The powerful Magnoceros, and the Nyx Assassin. Whenever struck by the Wisp, the insect would hiss and skitter furiously. Magnus bore his sniping stoically, slaying the Radiant creeps with almost as much impunity as the Brewmaster. If Io knew it would be one the Nyx Assassin's primary targets, it gave no sign. Together, the two Radiant Heroes beat back the Dire, pushing the waves towards the enemies own Tower. At an unseen signal, the two foes decided enough was enough, and together unleashed their powers.

Magnus swung his spear in a great arc, and a shockwave of lightning split the ground, travelling towards the Radiant forces. At the same time, the Assassin struck it's claws at the ground, causing a burst of spikes to erupt from the earth. The creeps were struck violently, being flung to the ground by the lightning before being gruesomely impaled by the spikes. The Brewmaster, readying himself for a kill, was hit by the combo. Temporarily staggered by the spells, he reeled drunkenly. The enemy saw this, and ran in to attack. Wisp who had temporarily gone to visit the side shop, emerged and gathered about him four balls of pure light, they circled him, spinning faster and faster. As Brewmaster gained his balance groggily, he was slashed by Nyx Assassin's claws, and Magnus stabbed him in the gut with his spear. The Guardian Wisp tethered to the injured hero's side, and the four orbs collided with Magnus and Nyx Assassin. The foe retreated, Nyx Assassin spitting curses at the ball of light. The two Radiant heroes moved back, Brewmaster panting heavily. He collapsed, wheezing. Blood ran from his injuries. Slowly, and with much fumbling, he removed a green potion from his stash and downed it. His wounds gradually healed, and the wheezing stopped. A sigh of relief emerged from Mangix. With a grimace, he stood up.

"I thank you, my glowing friend." He didn't sound remotely amused anymore. "Let us return." The Wisp merely floated beside him, buzzing.

* * *

Xin moved with fiery purpose, every part of him alert and concentrated. He moved lightly, always out of reach of his enemy. He would dance forward and slay a creep, then dance back. It was a deadly dance, the dance of the middle lane.

"Especially with someone as deadly as her." Xin thought with a hint of a smile.

Akasha, the Queen of Pain, stood on the Dire side. Every bit as beautiful as she was evil, the succubus smiled seductively at the elemental.

The two heroes competed viciously for dominance of the lane. Already Xin had been struck twice by her cursed dagger, and he was feeling the pain even after having consumed two tangoes. However, his gold was at a considerable amount.

"_This is going well, all things considered_." Ember Spirit decided with satisfaction. at last, the courier arrived and stood by his Tower. Walking over, Xin fished out the enchanted bottle from the cargo on the little donkey's back.

"Thank you friend, now back you go." With that, Xin ran back to his lane. Deciding he had played passively long enough, he activated his flame guard. At once, searing flames surrounded the elemental, and he ran into the throng of battling creeps. Xin slashed a swathe through the troglodytes, his flames burning to death those who avoided his blades. On the opposite hill, Xin spotted the Queen of Pain ready another dagger. This time, the Ember Spirit was ready. As she tossed the dagger, he closed his eyes, drawing deep on his martial arts techniques, he moved like a flaming blur. As the dagger passed through the space he had just been, Akasha was struck by a burning blade. She cried out, preparing herself to blink away, but was suddenly draped in the Ember Spirit's searing chains. The Succubus was dragged to the floor, her wings entangled. Xin reappeared where he had been, the dagger buried in the ground beneath him. He ran up the hill towards the chained woman. Once. Twice, he struck her, before the chains crumbled to ash. As Xin raised his blades for a third strike, the Queen of Pain screamed, causing the Ember Spirit to grimace, and flapped her wings, blinking back towards her Tower.

Xin watched the injured succubus heal herself. The radiant warriors ran past him towards the dire side, all their foes dead by the Ember Spirits hand. With no one to fight, Xin headed for the runes. As he walked, he sipped from his bottle smugly.


	2. First Blood!

Clockwerk nervously stood in a clump of trees. The creep wave had arrived uncomfortably close to the Dire tower, and Wraith King was easily earning gold from the creeps, completely uncontested. On the bright side, Rattletrap was now more powerful than his foes.

"Benefits of a solo lane I guess." He glanced uneasily into the gloomy jungle. It was eerie, the darkness seeming to cling to the dead and broken trees. Occasionally, a glowing pair of eyes would peep out of the gloom, courtesy of one of the many creatures that lived in the place.

Clockwerk had no idea where the Bane had gone. It had left the lane, presumably to draw the creep equilibrium towards the tower by "pulling" a jungle monster into attacking the Dire forces. Deciding that experience was going to waste, Rattletrap armed his rocket, and sent it shooting into the murky forest. The bright flash that ensued revealed nothing but a startled monster, which ran deeper into the jungle, its pelt smoking from the rocket.

Deciding that Bane could not be hiding in the jungle, and banking on his cogs to protect him, Clockwerk edged his way towards the melee of Dire and Radiant forces. The Wraith King saw his approach, and gave a menacing grin.

"Come on over, pipsqueak. Plenty of creeps for all." His deep voice held a promise of painful demise.

"Did your support leave you? I can smell why!" Yelled back Rattletrap.

"Which support? Oh you mean that one?!" the Wraith King pointed behind Clockwerk and began running towards the Keen, crushing creeps underfoot.

Clockwerk's heart skipped a beat as he turned and saw Bane break from the smoke of deceit that had shrouded him. With less than a second before he would be trapped and killed, Clockwerk reacted.

Raising his hookshot, he shot it straight at Bane just as the fiend raised it's arms for some diabolical incantation. The hook smashed into it's body and stuck. Bane gave a grunting cough and vomited some black liquid. Clockwerk was propelled directly into the monster, dragged by his hook. They smashed together, rolling back. As Bane lay on the ground stunned, Rattletrap got up. He was about to run.

"_Mind you, I've already knocked him down. Why not?_" Turning back, with a grin at the infuriated Wraith King still charging toward them, Clockwerk tossed out his cogs and activated his battery assault. Bane tried to get up, only to receive a piece of hot shrapnel directly into it's eyeless head. It screamed, and screamed again as the rain of shrapnel was layered with savage hits from Clockwerk's hookshot. Just as the finishing blow was about to fall, Rattletrap felt a terrible impact in his side. Blasted off his feet, he was flung against the inside of his own cogs.

"Aaaaagh!" He yelled in pain as green fire flickered over him, cooking him inside his armour. The cogs expired, and he scrambled away. Wraith King's sword swung towards him. The diminutive Keen couldn't block it, and was forced to deflect it by raising his own armoured hand. The blade sheared through the armour, cutting off half of the hand. The two forefingers and the thumb. Ostarion snarled, and stepped forward after the fleeing Hero. Immediately, he was struck by a powerful blast of magic. He grunted in pain and retreated from the Tower before it shot at him again. Clockwerk slumped against his Tower, but did not sit down. He squinted back at the Dire side. Bane had retreated once freed from the cogs.

"Heh. No matter." Rattletrap said through gritted teeth. With his undamaged hand, he armed a rocket, and sent it shooting over towards the Dire Tower.

"Come on… Come on…" Clockwerk hissed. The rocket exploded. A scream of pain and a burst of dark energy flashed upwards into the sky.

"Boom. Headshot. Heh, Kardel would be proud." Grunted Clockwerk in satisfaction. He groaned as the pain of his injuries washed over him again.

"Better head back." Extricating a dusty scroll from his satchel, Rattletrap activated the rune pressed into the paper.

* * *

Furion the Nature's Prophet moved through the jungle. He had already amassed a sizeable amount of gold from the looted jungle camps. It was perhaps time to leave the jungle. The Radiant entity linked all the heroes minds, allowing them to communicate even when on opposite sides of the battlefield. As such, every hero knew of the clockwork goblin's spectacular fight in the top lane, and had applauded his cool in the face of almost certain death. Now , Furion felt that they needed to widen the gap between the two sides.

_"Mangix, Io, do you require any assistance?" _Nature's Prophet called.

_"Ah Furion, that would be most welcome" _Mangix's thoughts were somewhat slurred, but still battle-ready.

"_Very well, signal when the opportune time would be"_

"_Ah, well, could you come help now? We have engaged the foe! Hahaha ow!"_ Mangix's eager voice was accompanied by a pained undertone.

Rolling his eyes, the voice of the woods channelled his powers. Trees grew around him in a tight grove. At the apex of their growth, the entire group of trees disappeared.

Brewmaster and Wisp were hard pressed. Nyx and Magnus seemed eager for blood, and were attempting to corner the Wisp. Mangix ran forward to help his ally. He raised his cask high and brought it crashing down. Immediately, a shockwave blasted outward. Just as it was about to hit the dire enemies, the Nyx Assassin gave a laugh. Spikes popped from its carapace.

"_Oh oh_" thought the Brewmaster. Magnus was struck by the slam, and bellowed. However, Mangix himself felt his own blast, as the reflective properties of the carapace sent the spell right back at the Brewmaster.

"Prepare for your audience with Nyx." Hissed the scarab. It raised it's claws and once more sent it's earthen spikes at the Brewmaster. As the spells took effect, Wisp tethered itself to Mangix, zooming towards him. It's four spirits were once more being summoned. Magnus however, shook off his pain and ran around to the side of the Radiant companions. Just as Brewmaster cleared his head, he and the Wisp were bowled right over by the Magnoceros' charge. They crashed in a heap in a group of trees, destroying them.

_"Mangix! Wisp_!" The voice of Xin was heard _"Queen of Pain has disappeared from the middle lane!"_

Magnus raised his spear, intending to kill the Wisp. A grove of trees sprouted out of the ground, blocking Magnus and preventing the blow. Nature's Prophet had arrived.

_"_Come friends! Rally!" Shouted Furion, now turning towards Nyx Assassin. The beetle chittered, and using it's predatorial abilities sent a psychic discharge at Nature's Prophet. Furion retaliated, sending blasts from his staff to strike the creature.

Brewmaster, spurred on by the arrival of his ally, leapt up.

"Try some of this then!" He laughed, and broke straight through the trees, colliding with Magnus. As they struck, the Brewmaster initiated his Primal Split. The three spirits surrounded the Magnoceros, beating him mercilessly with flame, stone, and wind.

Wisp extricated itself from the debris as Mangix charged. It was wounded, and decided heal before re-entering the fray. It moved into the jungle, intending to use a tango, when a soft _whump _noise was heard.

"Mmm, do you even have the nerves to feel pain?" asked Akasha. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter in the end. A death is a death."

Furion called upon nature to help him, and from behind the Nyx Assassin, a group of treants burst from their roots. Caught by surprise, the Nyx Assassin was grabbed and struck repeatedly by the sentient trees. Hissing in pain, the insect went invisible.

Cautious now, Furion stalked over to Mangix, his trees following him. As the Brewmaster reformed, Magnus lay on the ground. Dead.

"We won the fight, Mangix." Said Furion gravely. "But I Fear the Wisp was defeated in it's retreat."

"Ah" said the panda sadly "It is a shame."

They contemplated the Magnoceros's body grimly. Suddenly, it grew bright, too bright to look at.

"Wha-" said Mangix, but the body disappeared.

"What does this mean?" Frowned Furion. "Aaaaaagh!" He screamed in agony. Nyx had reappeared and dealt a devastating blow to his back.

"You are not dead!" it chittered angrily, before scuttling away.

Nature's Prophet growled. "After it!"

The two heroes gave chase. All three heroes were wounded, so they struggled along in some gruesome parody of a race.

"Almost got you bug!" The Brewmaster called, angry at the death of the Wisp.

Bizarrely, Nyx gave a cackle and turned around. It activated it's carapace and stood there.

"We know your trick. Did you really expect us to attack anyway?" Growled Brewmaster readying himself to crush the bug as soon as the spikes retracted.

Then Magnus charged in.

"Reverse Polarity!" he bellowed, moving too fast for the Radiant to react. The two friends were smashed together, buffeted by the gravitational change . The Queen of Pain blinked in. Without wasting any time for words, she arched her back and screamed. As the dust settled, two prone forms were revealed, those of the Brewmaster and Nature's Prophet.

Queen of Pain smiled at Magnus.

"A good buyback." She purred.

Magnus grunted "The Tower?"

Akasha's smile widened. "Why not?"


	3. Turnaround

"_Clockwerk_."

"_Yeah, I saw. What do we do now Ember Spirit?"_

"_Can you teleport to the bottom lane?_"

"_I sure can, I walked back to lane._"

"_Then we are going to defend our tower._" Ember Spirit turned his head down the river. With a determined glint in his eye, he turned and placed a fire remnant beside his Tower.

"_Let's go, tin man._" Ember Spirit activated his teleport scroll.

At the top lane, Clockwerk sighed. He'd only just got back to lane and here he was, teleporting to the opposite one. Pulling out his scroll, he began channelling it's rune.

The two heroes arrived at the bottom lane within a second of each other. During the time they had, the Dire heroes had heavily damaged the tower, but it was still standing. It leaned drunkenly on it's pedestal, the magic holding it up having been weakened. Magnus and Akasha retreated a short distance when they saw the incoming teleports.

"Should we continue pushing?" Growled Magnus, eager to fight.

"We'll take the tower and go. The bug will warn us of any other heroes trying to flank us." Queen of Pain assured him.

"Very well then!" snorted Magnus, and galloped forward to kill the next wave of radiant creeps.

At the radiant fountain, the slain heroes were beginning to be restored. The magic of the Radiant ancient would not let them die until either it or it's Dire adversary was utterly vanquished.

Io the Wisp was the first to be brought back. There was an unsettling menace to the way it's usually musical tones sounded. Furion was the next to return. Together, he and the Fundamental began concocting a plan with the two heroes defending the bottom lane. Finally, Brewmaster reappeared.

"I'll never touch the stuff again!" he announced downheartedly.

"No need for that my friend." said Furion. He turned away from the shopkeeper. "We have something they don't." There was something wild about the way he spoke.

"And- what is that?" asked Mangix, a little unnerved by the way his two companions were now so threatening.

"High mobility!" grinned Furion, giving vent to his anger as he began channelling his teleportation.

"Wha-?" began Mangix, but then the Wisp tethered itself to him. It began glowing brighter and brighter, and it's incomprehensible voice sounded excited.

The strategy dawned on Mangix "Oh." he said, as he was relocated.

* * *

"NOW!" Announced Ember Spirit, activating his flameguard and sprinting at the totally surprised enemy. Throwing himself out from behind the wave of creeps, Clockwerk dived and shot out his hookshot. It latched right into Queen of Pain, and a second later, Clockwerk himself smashed into her. As they collided and fell to the ground, Clockwerk's flailing hand grabbed something round and fleshy.

"Oh." Clockwerk blushed furiously. Akasha recovered and looked at the armoured Keen lying on top of her, his hand on her bosom. She opened her mouth, her face contorted in fury, before morphing into an expression of fear as a burning net fell on her.

Clockwerk disentangled himself hastily, all the while blushing in his helmet. He left the succubus to Xin, and activated his battery assault. Magnus charged straight at Ember Spirit, his horn ready to impale, but was pushed aside as the cogs were tossed out. Breaking his cogs, Clockwerk ran straight at the Magnoceros and threw himself onto it's back.

At the same time, the rest of the Radiant team arrived. Faced with the combined might of all five heroes, Nyx Assassin watched with dismay as his two teammates were promptly killed. Using the last of his invisibility, he ran back into the river and into the safety of the Dire side.

"Ahaha!" celebrated Mangix "This event deserves a drink!"

"Well done comrades, now I say we destroy their Tower as they tried to do with ours." Nature's Prophet urged.

"You do that." Ember Spirit announced. "I'll head back to the middle." and with that, he zipped back to his fire remnant.

Furion rubbed his hands. "Who is up for some pushing?" he asked with glee.

The Wisp relocated back to the fountain, leaving Brewmaster, Clockwerk and Natures Prophet to destroy the Dire Building.

* * *

Xin arrived at the middle lane. He glanced at his Tower and tsked. It had been damaged by the Dire creeps.

"_I Believe some pushing of my own would not be remiss._" he thought. Moving towards the centre of the river, he turned on his flameguard.

After slaying all the Dire forces, Xin followed the march of the Radiant creeps in attacking the Tower. The enchanted structure gleamed with malicious energy, and began firing a barrage of flames. The radiant creeps died quickly, but dealt significant damage to the Tower with the help of the Ember Spirit. As the creeps died, Ember Spirit retreated. Downriver, he heard a muffled crash, followed by some cheering. Xin smiled to himself, the Tower had fallen.

"Well played." croaked a voice. Before Xin could react, he felt himself being choked. He was lifted in the air, in the grip of the Bane elemental's dark magic. Wraith King emerged from the smoke of deceit as well, and fired a skull wreathed in wraithfire at the hapless figure. The moment Bane released Xin, the Nyx Assassin tossed him back into the air with his earth spikes. Ostarion raised his ivory blade.

"That ember was snuffed out quickly." He grinned cruelly.

The sword struck.

* * *

At the bottom lane, the three victorious heroes retreated, flushed with success.

"Now we have a definite lead. There is no question we have secured dominance." Laughed Furion. "I will use this time to head back into the forest."

"No problem, tree-man." quipped Clockwerk as Nature's Prophet stalked into the jungle once more.

"Want a drink Rattletrap?" joked Mangix. "Unless you're scared of rusting?"

The good mood of Brewmaster and Clockwerk vanished as they sensed the death of the Ember Spirit.

"Oh damn." Snarled Rattletrap. "Now we need to defend middle?"

"I'm sure they won't commit, not after the hiding we gave them last time." reassured Brewmaster, his confidence bolstered by the memory of the thrashing they had bestowed.

"Let's just go." grumbled Clockwerk. The two heroes set off at a trot towards the middle lane.

* * *

During all this time, the Wisp had not been idle. As soon as it returned home, it used the newfound gold to purchase a mekansm from the shopkeeper, and a large number of wards. Storing the items in a rift that the Fundamental could access at any time, Wisp set off towards the top lane.

Just before the second Tower, the Wisp turned right and passed the Ancient camp. Placing a ward on the bluff, it then turned and sent a ball of light at the creatures. Retreating, it caused the ancient monsters to chase it. By the time they became disgusted and returned home, a new group of Ancients had moved in. Growling at each other, the monsters each chose their separate sides of the camp. As Io felt the death of it's comrade, it rushed towards the middle lane.

There, Wraith King and Bane attacked the Radiant creeps viciously. Blood spattered, limbs coated the ground and the river ran sluggishly, bloated with it's burden of corpses.

Io knew the Nyx Assassin could be around. It placed a sentry ward on the stairs leading to the river. There, not a meter away, stood the Nyx Assassin, eyeing the Wisp with hatred.

"Ahoy Wisp!" Shouted Clockwerk. He hadn't noticed the assassin. "Ready for the defence?"

Wisp tethered to Clockwerk an instant before Nyx's envoy struck. The ball of light was pulled to safety by it's tether.

"Beep beep bruu!" hummed Io happily.

"...Right…" Said Clockwerk. "Me too."

"Alright friends? Shall we halt this push?" Called Mangix, making his way to stand squarely in front of the Tower.

"Ay ay, Brewmaster!" Saluted Clockwerk.

Together, the three allies prepared for yet another fight.


	4. Pick-offs

The Dire creeps once more rushed forward, and once again they were quickly disposed of by the three heroes guarding the Radiant Tower.

"How long will they push?! I'm sick of this tiptoeing back and forth!" growled Brewmaster in frustration, crushing a troglodyte with his flail.

"Who knows, at least while their Wraith King is here he isn't getting that much gold." Rattletrap spoke, frustration evident in his voice.

The Wisp chirped in it's otherworldly voice. They waited by their Tower for the next wave.

"_Ember Spirit has returned!_" announced the resuscitated Xin. "_I apologise for my mistake. I let my guard down when I saw our victorious push._"

"_Whatever, just head top. There's creeps going to waste." _announced Rattletrap.

"_Indeed._"

The Wisp hummed again, and using a tendril of light pulled some fleshy object out of a rift. The repulsive object opened it's mismatched eyes.

"Good idea Wisp, we'll go ward. I wouldn't walk alone at this time." stated Brewmaster. "Can you hold the fort Clockwerk?"

"Sure thing, just make sure to ward our forest. Furion wouldn't appreciate it if he got ambushed."

Mangix and Io turned and wandered into the jungle. Clockwerk faced the river once more. This time, when the Dire creeps appeared, they were unaccompanied by any of the heroes.

"_Uh oh" _thought Clockwerk. "_This could be trouble."_

* * *

Brewmaster and the Wisp ventured in the Jungle. They moved cautiously, but made good progress.

"So uh… you know where to place those things?" asked Mangix, trying to start a conversation.

The Wisp chirped happily.

"Of course…" sighed Brewmaster. The Wisp was not one to have a conversation with.

As they walked, Brewmaster heard a noise. The sound of high pitched jabbering emanated softly from a thicket a few metres off the path.

"_Oho!"_ thought the Brewmaster.

"Io, what if you went ahead a bit and placed your ward. I'll just stop here quickly and catch up afterwards."

Io whistled and moved off. Grinning, Mangix squinted at the large thicket from whence came the sound of Kobolds.

"_Ahaha, Kobolds often have a nice amount of loot. This can make up for my previous death!" _

Abandoning secrecy, Brewmaster gave a chuckling roar and pounded into the thicket. Breaking branches indiscriminately, he plunged right into the centre of a group of squealing rat-like creatures. Still chuckling, the Brewmaster smashed his cask into the ground, knocking the Kobolds off their feet.

"_Raaar! Ahaha!" _laughed Mangix, as with his flail he shattered the skull of the lead Kobold while simultaneously dropping his cask on another, crushing it flat. One Kobold, either braver or stupider than the others, had evaded the initial cask smash and now leapt onto the Brewmaster's back. It dug it's sharp little claws into his skin and bit at the thick fur surrounding Mangix's neck.

"Ohoho! This one has spirit!" chuckled Brewmaster. Reaching around, he plucked the squirming creature off his back. Flinging it to the ground, he stomped it underfoot. Panting slightly, he surveyed the wreckage of the small campsite. Tucked away in one corner, some gold and treasure robbed from travellers and other monsters gleamed. Claiming the treasure for himself, Brewmaster hefted his cask above his head and drank deeply.

"Aaah, needs a refill." smacking his lips, the panda strode out of the campsite, kicking aside a wounded Kobold as he did.

* * *

Io whistled in a frenzied panic as it floated hurriedly away from the river.

"Come, deliver your essence to Nyx!" skittering rapidly behind the Fundamental, Nyx Assassin gave chase, rapidly gaining on the glowing orb. Raising it's claws, it stabbed them into the ground. The Wisp was struck by a spike, which passed straight through it. The guardian spirit gave a shriek, and it's light dimmed. Nevertheless, it pulled itself off the rock, and continued it's retreat.

"I will have my Vendetta, you sad excuse for a Fundamental. Come to Nyx I say!" laughing maniacally, Nyx followed the Wisp relentlessly. In desperation, Io turned and attempted to run through a group of trees. Cackling at the impending kill, Nyx followed suit. Immediately, the trees surrounding the pair wrenched themselves from the soil and threw themselves at the Assassin.

"What in the name of Ny-" hissed a startle Nyx, as the trees piled onto it, trying to wrench it's carapace off. Nyx Assasin activated his carapace, and the Treants were impaled and thrown off. Clacking it's mandibles in annoyance Nyx realised that the Wisp was now not alone.

"A good bait, Io." Smirked Furion. The Wisp buzzed angrily at the scarab.

"No matter, I will have my Vendetta you glowing coward." spat Nyx. "Until next time!" the Nyx Assassin activated it's invisibility. As it moved to leave however, a thicket of trees grew around it. Nyx was trapped.

Still invisible, Nyx called out. "And just what did that accomplish you rotting log!?"

Natures Prophet gave a bark of laughter. "Only this."

A sort of pot was tossed over the thicket. Nyx stared at the Dust of Appearance.

"Oh Nyx." it said, as the dust exploded in a choking cloud.

Wisp summoned it's glowing orbs and quickly floated to the other side of the grove. As the trees died and collapsed, it tethered to Nature's Prophet. The now easily visible Nyx was struck on two sides, slowed by the magical link of the tether, and struck repeatedly from the overcharged Furion and by the spirits of the Wisp. Needless to say, the unfair fight was over quickly.

"_Guys! Guys!" _Shouted Clockwerk over the mental link. _"The entire team has disappeared from the map!" _

Furion looked at Wisp. The orb of light seemed to look at Nature's Prophet.

"Let's get out of here." Wisp chirped in agreement and began floating away as fast as it could. Nature's Prophet ran and hid in a clump of trees. Channelling his teleport for the Radiant Fountain, Nature's Prophet saw the Wraith King stomp past a metre away from the grove. Halting in his tracks, the Wraith King turned his head and stared surprised at Furion.

Furion smiled, and was gone.

* * *

Meanwhile, Xin attacked the waves of troglodytes in the top lane. Despite dying once, he had managed to finally earn enough gold to buy the final component of a fantastic weapon. Turning from a Dire creep, he headed back to his Tower and to the Secret Shop. The creep toppled over, first one half, then the other.

"Shopkeeper!" called Xin. "I wish to purchase the Battlefury."

The greasy, obese man emerged from the store, smiling unctuously.

"Of course, great hero of course. How many components have you currently acquired?"

Xin spread the items on the counter. Only the Void Stone was missing. He also placed his primary blade on the counter.

"Forge them." Xin demanded.

"At once." replied the Shopkeeper, still smiling.

The Keepers, as favourites of the gods, possessed magic that no simple blacksmith could hope for. They did not just sell weapons, but imbued the magical properties of one weapon into another. Although Ember Spirit could have used the enchanted axe, he preferred his flaming swords. The Keeper imbued the magic of the Battlefury into the larger sword of Ember Spirit, increasing the power of the flaming blade.

"My thanks." Ember Spirit said with distaste, tossing gold onto the counter. In Xin's opinion, the slimy Shopkeepers were profiting dishonourably from this war, their wares indiscriminately to either side. They did not care what evil monstrosity purchased their goods, only for the coin that this brought them.

Xin left the Secret Shop, reflecting on just how "Secret" it really was. Every hero knew of it, and made trips there almost every battle.

"_Really" _Xin thought. "_It's absurd what they'll say and do to attract clientele._"

As he tested the edge of his newly enhanced blade he caught the noise of someone else coming through towards the Secret Shop. Sensing it couldn't be an ally, the Ember Spirit turned around and hid himself deep in the woods that surrounded the path that led to the Secret Shop. As he waited, he heard a creaking and inhuman voice. It was mumbling to himself.

"…Nyctasha… Nyctashaaa…" it repeated eerily.

"_The Bane elemental!"_ Thought Xin. _"It has the audacity to venture into __**our**_ _Secret Shop!?" _Ember Spirit's lip curled. Here was a way to redeem the death he had suffered.

As the creature passed, Xin sent a fire remnant shooting off. It blazed to a halt in front of Bane, who recoiled in surprise.

"You seem to be a bit far from home aren't you?" Ember Spirit spoke gravely.

In a panic, Bane attempted to place a nightmare on the flame spirit. As soon as Bane moved however, Xin was already behind it, the remnant scorching Bane's back with it's blast. Xin immediately tossed his flaming chains onto the fiends which screamed in pain. Concentrating, Xin activated his flames, burning the nightmare creature. Trapped, it lunged forward and bit at air. It seemed surprised when the Ember Spirit gave no indication of any discomfort. Xin raised his blades, and in a flurry of motion struck the fiend in a series of blindingly fast strokes.

When he had disposed of the dark creature, Xin hurried from the place. He allowed himself a smile at the defeat of his enemy. Deciding to choose the path of safety, Xin sent a fire remnant into the stronghold and flickered to it. Walking back to the fountain, he met Furion.

"Well done. Those isolated pick-offs were just what we needed." Xin clasped arms with his ally.

"You as well, Ember Spirit." Nature's Prophet chuckled. "We are once again leading significantly."

"_Uh, team?" _Clockwerk sounded in pain over the mental link. "_The Queen of Pain and Magnus came back. They uh…"_ he coughed_ "… they took the middle tower."_

Furion closed his eyes. _"Truly?" _he asked, slightly dejected.

_"Well, it was low already." _said Clockwerk, speaking defensively.

_"I understand." _thought Xin. _"We are on our way."_


End file.
